


Crystalline Memories

by ProfessionalCouchPotato



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Is it major character death if they're dead inside?, Kuron is Shiro (Voltron)'s Clone, Not Canon Compliant, This Will Go From Bad to Worse, Universe Alteration, You Can Pry Black Paladin Lance From My Cold Dead Hands, no romantic relationships because I don't think the story will need them, will be part of a series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-01-07 18:31:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12238344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessionalCouchPotato/pseuds/ProfessionalCouchPotato
Summary: After liberating an alien race from the Galra, the paladins are gifted a very special artifact, which soon turns out to be more of a curse than a prize. Can they stop the crystal before it reaches into their minds and turns their worst memories on each other, or will Voltron crumble under the pressure?(Inspired by 'New Old Memories' by SashkaFangirl)





	Crystalline Memories

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [New Old Memories](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12228780) by [SashkaFangirl (orphan_account)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/SashkaFangirl). 



~~(:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::)~~

 

Four figures were standing in a dimly lit hallway, as still as statues. For three of them, this was perfectly normal since they were, in fact, robots; but the fourth figure was under no such limitations and still managed to remain perfectly motionless. There was no movement in the corridor as he focused his glowing yellow eyes on the door in front of him with laser-like intensity, but after a few moments, an audible _click_ shattered the silence and the doors slid open. The Galra’s eyes flicked down to where the rails that enabled the movement met the floor with speed that showed that he knew what to expect.

Silhouetted in the door frame was a small humanoid alien, who only measured up to the mid-thigh of any of the four in the hallway.

Slowly, the diminutive creature tilted its head back to meet the gaze of the Galra commander, and in the room behind it, a collection of similar beings paused in their work to do the same. After a few seconds of scrutiny, the Galra shifted uncomfortably, and it was like a switch was flipped. All of the workers returned to their tasks and the first one broke out in a toothy grin, motioning with two of its four arms for the Commander to follow it.

“Commander Relnog,” it crooned, drawing out the name and giving the impression of nails on a chalkboard. “Even after all this time, you never seem to be prepared for your monthly visits. How do you plan on garnering any respect if you tremble in the face of one so much smaller than you?”

The Commander’s eye twitched, but he followed after the alien, with his robots not far behind. “Why are you so sure I was intimidated,” he bluffed, and swerved to avoid stepping on an infant that was crawling around and being largely ignored. “I might have been faking, trying to keep you on your toes.”

The alien gave him an unimpressed glare.

“Well for starters, you keep bringing those _things_ with you,” it muttered, throwing a disgusted glance over its shoulder at the three robotic sentries. “I'm still not sure who you feel the need to protect against. We aren't exactly threatening, and don't think anyone missed that wave of apprehension from you when I mentioned getting you out of that armor. You're concealing something, and I'm willing to bet that it isn't a floral bouquet.”

“Why? With your charming disposition, everyone must line up to throw them at you,” muttered Relnog.

  
~~(*****)~~

 

The further the small group walked, the fewer others they passed and the further underground they went, until the small alien finally brought them to a large room with a high ceiling, which looked like it may have been a docking bay for some sort of watercraft in the past.

“We have been conducting the experiments just as you advised, with a few ideas of our own thrown into the mix. This one,” it continued, coming to a halt beside a hollow rock that had jagged orange crystals coating the inside of it. “This one has the ability to link the thoughts of one individual to another. Just break off a small formation and plant it on your enemy to make them an unwitting spy. Side effects are that after extended use, the linked minds may start to become the same, in more ways than one and all that implies.” The creature winced and looked over to the side of the room, almost as if out habit. The Commander followed its gaze and was surprised to see a long mirror set into the wall. _One way glass,_ he guessed, and almost tripped over his escort, who had slowed to a stop next to another crystal.  

“This next crystal is similar in looks and structure to Black Opal,” the alien said, fondly admiring a large stone that had a constantly shifting ink-like substance inside of it. “Along with the resemblance to one of the sought after gems on our market, this crystal has the ability to house the memories, emotions, and personality of any one individual. It’s also operated through physical contact, just like all of the others. The only problem is that we have yet to find a way to extract the subjects. For now, it's simply lovely if you want to keep your relatives on display in your living room without having to worry about Rigor Mortis.”

A small table sat next to the next crystal, and the only thing on it was a potted plant that largely resembled a tumbleweed. The small alien stopped to snap off one of the branches and bend it experimentally before continuing with its explanations.

“Exhibit C is my personal favorite, and I think it will be yours as well. The Galra are all obsessed with Quintessence, right?” It didn't even pause to let Commander Relnog speak, and just continued to babble on as a grin stretched across its face.

“Well, as you already know, Quintessence is almost like the physical form of a being’s life force, making it extremely hard to extract. And your society-” it whacked the Commander on his armored calve with the stick, “-goes through the stuff like it’s water! Up until now, there hasn’t been anything you could do but deal with it and ration whatever you were able to scavenge, but not for much longer. ‘Why?’ you ask?” The alien paused, and Relnog tilted his head once he realized that it was waiting for him to respond.

Satisfied, it spun and took a step closer to the crystal, raising the twig in its hand like a whip. “This beauty has the incredible ability to channel and amplify Quintessence!” With that, the alien smacked the plant branch across the surface of the crystal and watched with motherly pride as new branches and leaves erupted from the stick immediately.

“As you are well aware, we Jorisians are empathic, meaning that we can sense emotions. However, this crystal seems to have an added benefit for us. After just a quick tap-” it rapped the branch against the crystal again and the small twig started to grow flowers at a frenzied rate, “-I can hear your thoughts for a short amount of time. Go ahead Relnog, think of a number. Any number will do.”

Commander Relnog raised an eyebrow but closed his eyes anyway, and then proceeded to think of the most random non-numerical thing he could. Finally, his mind settled on his favorite food, a dish that his nanny had prepared for him and called “Teznolian Jumpers,” because if you didn't put your fork in them just right, they would fly off the plate and ricochet around the room.

There were always casualties when Teznolian Jumpers were served.

Satisfied that the Galra was ready, the Jorisian delicately raised a three-fingered hand and placed it on the crystal for a moment, then yanked it off almost immediately. It shifted to face the Commander, and tilted its head in concentration, looking for all the world like a small bird. After a moment of contemplation, the alien sighed pivoted on its heel to walk back in the direction they had come, with Relnog and his sentries close behind.

“I have no idea what a ‘Teznolian Jumper’ is, but I do know that I in no way resemble any type of canary.” The Jorisian snapped it's blunt teeth for emphasis. “Anyway, we've taken to calling that one we just looked at ‘Phoenix’ because-” it threw the twig over its shoulder, and when it bounced off of the crystal, the branch spontaneously combusted. By the time the small pile of ash had hit the ground, there was already a smaller version of the tumbleweed plant pushing through the remains.

“Those are three of the most promising experiments, and there are others still in development. Do you have any questions, Commander Relnog,” it queried once they had reached the doorway.

The Commander clasped his hands behind his back and ran his gaze over the line of crystals, until it settled on a fourth one, tucked away in the furthest corner of the room.

“Why did you overlook that one,” he asked, and when the Jorisian realized what he was talking about, it let out a long-suffering sigh.

“It is condemned, but if you really wish to know, I will tell you.” The alien started toward that side of the hangar, and Relnog and his robots trailed after it. “I can answer any _other_ questions while we walk, since we seem to have quite a ways to go.” It muttered the last part under its breath, but the Commander decided to ignore it.

“Very well. What are these ‘ideas’ that you claim to have added,” he asked. “All of the three crystals that you just showed me at least partiality fit the criteria that I had suggested beforehand.”

The Jorisian bristled.

“Well, it was my idea to build them down here. Those hangar doors open to our neighboring ocean, and in case of an emergency, I can quickly dispose of all of our research. The crystals are all extremely unstable on the submolecular level and will dissolve immediately upon contact with water or if not in the presence of oxygen.

“The design and aesthetic are also my doing,” the alien spat, still looking very annoyed, “since I know how much you want to impress your Emperor with these, I figured a little extra flash and substance couldn't hurt. Gray dust isn't exactly attractive.”

The Jorisian took a deep breath as an effort to calm itself, and Relnog was silent for a few moments before asking, “What do you mean gray dust?”

“Oh,” it winced, “I suppose I wasn’t meant to say anything about that to you, on account of the Board of Directors’ paranoia. They have plans to use these on you if you ever turn on us, and the gray dust that the crystals are made of would be easy to use against an unwitting audience. I told them that it was unnecessary, but even if they won’t listen, I know the truth.”

Their small group was almost at the corner of the room where the condemned crystal was, but the Jorisian paused, and the Commander only took a few more steps before coming to a halt and turning to look at the minute creature. When it spoke again, the alien’s voice was light, but its eyes held a warning. “We’re all in this together, right?”

There was a brief staring contest, but after a moment, the Commander’s lips curved into a thin smile.

“Obviously.”

The Jorisian narrowed its eyes, and Relnog could tell that it was reading his emotions. Unlike earlier, though, he made sure not to waver, and was rewarded with a small nod from the alien, who continued on the course to the condemned experiment without another word.

“Okay, here it is. None of us here at the lab are very fond of this experiment. Its purpose is to share memories, but every time we’ve tried, our test subjects go insane within hours. The most frustrating part is that we don't know why. The subjects never make any sense when we ask, and all of our tests have come up normal, so we have no idea what the problem is and therefore no way to fix it. The research on this crystal has been halted, and we plan to dispose of it within the next cycle.”

Commander Relnog hummed thoughtfully and tapped his foot on the concrete floor a few times.

“Cancel that order,” he stated decisively. When the small alien craned it's head up to give him an inquisitive glance, he grinned back, revealing multiple rows of sharp teeth.

“I have a better use for it.”

 

~~(::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::)~~


End file.
